Isaiah 20

God tells Isaiah to walk around stripped and barefoot for three years as a living warning. The sign shows that Egypt and Cush, the allies Judah was tempted to lean on, would be led away naked by Assyria. The lesson is that trusting any power other than God ends in shame.

Isaiah 20:1

The chapter is dated by an Assyrian campaign. Sargon’s commander marched on Ashdod, a Philistine city near the coast, and took it. Ashdod had probably counted on Egyptian help. Its fall shows how weak that hope was, and it sets the scene for what God tells Isaiah to do.

BSA: captured (“seized control, took possession”): Ashdod did not merely suffer an attack; it was taken over completely, which shows how worthless its hope in outside help proved.

See also: Isaiah 31:1.

Isaiah 20:2

God commands Isaiah to take off his sackcloth, the rough cloth a prophet might wear as a sign of mourning, and his sandals. He obeys and goes about exposed and barefoot. Prophets often preached with their lives as well as their words, and Isaiah accepts public shame to deliver God’s message.

BSA: sackcloth (“coarse cloth”): This rough garment marked Isaiah as a man of mourning and warning, and God has him lay it aside as part of the sign. barefoot (“without shoes, humble”): Going without sandals was a mark of lowliness, the condition of prisoners and the defeated.

Hebrew: עָרוֹם (ʿarom, H6174) — “stripped, bare.” The Hebrew word can mean stripped of the outer garment as well as wholly unclothed. Isaiah may have been left in just a loincloth, though the picture is plainly one of humiliation either way.

See also: Ezekiel 4:1-8.

Isaiah 20:3

God now explains the sign. For three years Isaiah’s appearance has been a warning aimed at Egypt and Cush. He is called God’s servant, which shows that this strange obedience was faithful service. His embarrassment was a small price for helping others see what lay ahead.

BSA: servant (“one who serves and obeys”): God honors Isaiah with this title even while he is publicly shamed for obeying. sign (“a miraculous token, a beacon”): Isaiah’s whole appearance was meant to stand out like a beacon, pointing to a coming event.

Hebrew: מוֹפֵת (mofet, H4159) — “omen, wonder, portent.” This word is used for an event that points beyond itself to something still to come. Isaiah’s odd appearance was a preview of Egypt’s future.

See also: Isaiah 8:18.

Isaiah 20:4

What Isaiah acted out will happen to Egypt and Cush. Assyria will march their captives away, young and old, stripped and barefoot. The humiliation is deliberately vivid. The nations Judah admired for their strength will be reduced to shamed prisoners.

BSA: exiles (“refugees, those forced out”): These people will be driven from their homeland against their will, and their power cannot stop it. shame (“humiliation, disgrace”): Their pride will be stripped away as completely as their clothing.

Isaiah 20:5

Those who had put their hope in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be shattered. Their confidence rested on something that could not hold. When it fails they will be left dismayed and ashamed. Anything that takes God’s place as our security will let us down in the same way.

BSA: hope (“expectation, thing hoped for”): Their whole expectation of safety was fixed on a human power, so its collapse leaves them with nothing. boast (“glory, beautiful thing”): Egypt was what they took pride in, which makes the disappointment all the sharper.

See also: Jeremiah 17:5; Psalm 20:7.

Isaiah 20:6

The people of the coast, probably including Philistia and neighboring peoples, will finally see the truth. The allies they ran to for rescue from Assyria are themselves conquered. Their question, how can we escape, is left unanswered. The reader is meant to hear that only the Lord is a refuge that will not fail.

BSA: deliverance (“rescue, salvation”): They looked for rescue in the wrong place, and it is God alone who gives true salvation. escape (“be delivered, slip away”): Their question shows that, once their human hope has failed, they have no way out.

See also: Isaiah 30:1-3; Psalm 46:1.